A History of Islamic LawLawyers, according to Edmund Burke, are bad historians. He was referring to an unwillingness, rather than an inaptitude, on the part of early nineteenth-century English lawyers to concern themselves with the past: for contemporary jurisprudence was a pure and isolated science wherein law appeared as a body of rules, based upon objective criteria, whose nature and very existence were independent of considerations of time and place. Despite the influence of the historical school of Western jurisprudence, Burkes observation is generally valid for Middle East studies. Muslim jurisprudence in its traditional form provides an extreme example of a legal science divorced from historical considerations. Law, in classical Islamic theory, is the revealed will of God, a divinely ordained system preceding, and not preceded by, the Muslim state controlling, but not controlled by, Muslim society. There can thus be no relativistic notion of the law itself evolving as an historical phenomenon closely tied with the progress of society. The increasing number of nations that are largely Muslim or have a Muslim head of state, emphasizes the growing political importance of the Islamic world, and, as a result, the desirability of extending and expanding the understanding and appreciation of their culture and belief systems. Since history counts for much among Muslims and what happened in 632 or 656 is still a live issue, a journalistic familiarity with present conditions is not enough; there must also be some awareness of how the past has molded the present. This book is designed to give the reader a clear picture. But where there are gaps, obscurities, and differences of opinion, these are also indicated. |
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Abbasid accepted administrative adopted agnate applied Arab ash-Shafi'i basic bequests Caliphs century civil claim classical Code concerned consensus contract criminal customary law deceased deceased's divine revelation divorce dower early schools effect Egypt Egyptian Law established example existing fact family law Hanafi law Hanbali husband idda ijma ijtihad Imām inheritance interpretation Islamic jurisprudence Islamic law Islamic legal isnād Ithnā-'asharite judicial jurisdiction jurists Khārijite Kūfa legal practice legal systems legal theory legislation Mālikī Maliki law marriage Mazālim Medina Middle East modern Muhammad Muslim jurisprudence nature opinion particular period polygamy principles problem Prophet qādī qiyās Qur'an reasoning recognised reform regard regulations religious repudiation result ribā rule Schacht scholars schools of law Shafi'i Sharī a courts Sharī a doctrine Sharī a law Sharia Shi'ite siyāsa slave society source of law substantive sunna Sunnite Sunnite schools talāq taqlid texts tion traditional law traditional Sharī Umayyad valid waqf wife